Bribery-engulfed US Congress in relentless pursuit to slander Azerbaijan
Walsh and Beisebayev unmask Armenia's minions

INTERVIEWS  24 January 2024 - 12:10

The co-chairs of the US Congressional Caucus on Armenia, Frank Pallone, Gus Bilirakis, Adam Schiff and David Valadao, have called for sanctions against Azerbaijan. According to EADaily, the due statement from Congressman Frank Pallone was published on his page on X.

This pro-Armenian "quartet" stated that "Baku is making hostile statements and refusing to withdraw its troops from the territory of Armenia". They said "ethnic cleansing of more than 100,000 Karabakh Armenians" had been carried out under a similar scenario.

"The US and its regional partners should use all diplomatic tools, including sanctions, to ensure Armenia's territorial integrity in response to Aliyev's open threats," the statement said.

The text notes that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is allegedly "making these statements to justify further mobilisation of his army". According to the congressmen, "the Azerbaijani side will take aggressive actions in the future because it believes that there will be no consequences for it".

"It is time to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its actions against Armenians in the South Caucasus," Pallone added to the released statement.

In other words, not only are paid American congressmen calling on Washington to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan, they are also confidently claiming that Baku has already decided to take "aggressive action" against Armenia. The question is, what is the source of such confidence? The Azerbaijani leadership is saying the exact opposite, insisting that the country has already achieved its goals: its territorial integrity has been restored. However, Pallone and Co. know from somewhere that this is not the case. Do they know better sitting on the other side of the ocean? It will be interesting to see how the White House responds to this appeal from Armenian lobbyists.

Foreign experts shared their opinions on the situation with Caliber.Az.

Irish political scientist and historian Patrick Walsh notes that the calls against Azerbaijan are coming from the "usual suspects" who depend on the Armenian diaspora for funding and votes.

"This is not surprising, as the diaspora has recently been in 'victim mode', which it switches to in times of defeat. All this is done to make the West sympathise with 'Armenian suffering' and to provoke 'humanitarian intervention'. This has been the case since the end of the 19th century. Similar appeals were made against the 'terrible Turks'. The scenario is the same, only the characters have changed," the expert said.

According to him, the deputies receive their "information" from interested diaspora groups. Of course, it has a strong propaganda character, including half-truths and disinformation.

"What are these 'Azerbaijani threats'? This is a misinterpretation of President Aliyev's factual statements about the territories of the current Armenian state, which were originally Azerbaijani in population and power.

Talk of the 'ethnic cleansing of 100,000 people' is false. They left Karabakh voluntarily because they felt strongly that any form of Azerbaijani authority was unacceptable, even as full and equal citizens. Their leaders encouraged the exodus because, once again, they misinterpreted statements from the West, especially from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The Armenians believed that Washington would come to their rescue if they could create a 'humanitarian catastrophe' on their own with a mass exodus. But all they had was Samantha Power.

The Armenians miscalculated, believing that Washington was ready to support their illegal entity in Karabakh. This did not happen. The US saw the NKR as a Russian construct and was secretly glad to see it fall, as it meant that Yerevan could be separated from Moscow by removing the Kremlin's means to manipulate. So Washington wept crocodile tears, seeing this as a victory in a much wider geopolitical struggle," says Walsh.

In contrast, President Aliyev, as always, acted with a great sense of realism, decisively but cautiously, accurately assessing the balance of power at every moment and successfully taking advantage of the opportunities that events offered him, the Irish academic said.

According to him, Washington is currently facing a lot of problems in the world.

"The war in Ukraine is going poorly, and there are serious concerns about the consequences of a defeat that would seriously erode the idea of Western power. Israel's military operation in Gaza was disastrous for the West's global moral authority.

So calls to act against Azerbaijan look like the greatest hypocrisy. The US does not like to use force to achieve results in the world. But they can hardly tolerate what is happening in the Gaza Strip, with the staggering level of killing and destruction, while at the same time acting against international law in a controlled military operation directed solely against the occupying army," Walsh concluded.

Kazakh political analyst Kazbek Beisebayev began his commentary with the observation that it's well known that lobbying is officially allowed in the United States.

"This can explain the statements of American congressmen demanding "the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the territory of Armenia". They are, let's say... Working out the mission. But there are wishes and possibilities, and sometimes they do not coincide. So, in this case, the lobbyists' wishes and opportunities are not and cannot be in line with each other," the expert said.

According to him, Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity and closed the chapter.

"It should also be said that the world community has long recognised Baku's legitimate claims to its territories. Therefore, some people abroad can say a lot about the alleged Azerbaijani troops on the territory of Armenia, but we, as people of the East, know a good saying: The dog barks, but the caravan moves on," Beisebayev summed up.

Caliber.Az